Page 87 of Bring me Back
“I broke up with Katie months ago,” I said automatically.
“Great, don’t care.” Cole shook his head. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I know this Katie is obviously lying.”
I rubbed my face. “Goddamn Campbells.” Cole hummed, more of a surprised sound that made my ears twitch. “What?”
He rolled his shoulders. “Nothing. I just… That’s not very Delilah, you know?”
My eyebrows soared. The Delilah I knew? She was as much as a bully as her older sister.
“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a piece of work. We were in the same class together since kindergarten. She’s dramatic, over the top and an overachiever.”
The wordactorrang in my head.
“But she was never a bully. Never stood to this kind of behavior, quite loudly, actually. She’s… She’s kind of a loner. Never really close to anyone.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, what I heard about her sister, they must be polar opposites.”
To me, she never showed to be anything but a horrible bully, a spoiled brat. But Hallie had been saying she was just a kid. Saying we don’t know if Katie poisoned her mind. Whatever it was, I didn’t care about Delilah Campbell. I wasn’t interested at all in her sad little story about being a loner because she was horrible to Hallie and that was enough of a sin to me.
“Don’t listen to gossip and go back to work,” I barked.
Cole chuckled, proving I had no authority. “I don’t listen to gossip, Mr. M. But I am saying people are making it impossible for Hallie to live her life. She bailed once… Why wouldn’t she bail twice?”
The answer was on the tip of my tongue. Because she was older and stronger. Because she deserved to live in peace as much as the next citizen of Bluehaven. Because she survived when her mother passed, when kids bullied her, when people called her names. She survived that horrible day in the locker room.
Hallie Delos Santos was a survivor. And she wasn’t going to bow down now.
I opened my mouth but closed it when I heard the commotion. A smack at the front gate, rushed steps down the corridor and then a thunder in the middle of the school.
“Anderson!”
Unmistakably Preston White.
I jumped into action at once, holding a hand high to the class, “Stay where you are.”
When I opened the door, the blurred shape of Preston was stalking the corridors, calling the principal’s name once more. From everywhere across the hall, doors were opened. Students stuck their heads out while some just watched from the small glass window at each classroom’s door. Staff stopped in their tracks with hands over their mouths. My own students piled behind me, ignoring my wishes.
“I said stay back!” I growled but didn’t grace them with a look.
Anderson finally left his office, raking his hand over his head, shocked to say at least. “What’s the meaning of this, Preston? You can’t come in during school hours-”
He never got to finish that sentence. The man clocked the principal with a furious hit straight to the jawline. Anderson was smaller, he stumbled back, his secretary muffled a scream. I ran, putting myself between them, my hand on Preston’s chest, keeping him back.
Anderson shouted about how Preston dared to do such a thing, urging the teachers to call the police.
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do this if I—”
Preston laughed. The ice quality of it made my blood run cold. “You better call the police, Anderson, otherwise I’ll finish you up. Hurry, the clock is ticking.”
Preston advanced again, and I held him back. His eyes flashed to my face like it was the first time he noticed I was between them.
“Do you know?” He asked. “Everything?”
I gave him the smallest nod.
“And you let him walk? Let him care for the children?”
Shame washed over me. Yes, I felt all those things Preston was feeling. I was done with the way Anderson managed things way before I knew what happened to Hallie, but I never thought about the other kids. The other Hallies under his thumb.
“Your job is to protect kids,” Preston was shouting, “You should protectallkids!”